CL Dropping 'Erotic Services' Ads

[Damien 200]

Heads up that CL is dropping erotic service ads in the States after mounting pressure from law enforcement. I have no idea if this will affect listings in Canada, but FYI nonetheless.

 

CHICAGO (AFP) - is dropping its "erotic services" ads and creating a new "adult" category that will be reviewed by employees of the online classified service, the Illinois attorney general's office said.

 

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was informed of 's decision to stop running "erotic services" ads in a telephone call with representatives of the San Francisco-based company, her office said in a statement.

 

Madigan's office said had stopped accepting "erotic services" ads from late Tuesday and that all ads posted on the site would expire within seven days. Craiglist, it said, planned to create a new "adult services" category and every ad posted to this new category would be reviewed by staff.

 

Nude and graphic photos would not be allowed.

 

Craiglist has been under pressure for months from law enforcement in several states to drop its "erotic services" section. The pressure intensified recently with the high-profile arrest of a Boston medical student charged with murdering a woman who had posted an ad on .

 

Attorneys general from several US states met with earlier this month to discuss their concerns that the free online classified service is being used to advertise prostitution.

 

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090513/technology/us_crime_sex_internet_

[A***** A***** 510]

And yes, I have checked out all of Canada, we won't be subject to it,

 

Striking a New Balance

 

As of today for all US sites, postings to the ?erotic services? category will no longer be accepted, and in 7 days the category will be removed.

 

Also effective today for all US sites, a new category entitled ?adult services? will be opened for postings by legal adult service providers. Each posting to this new category will be manually reviewed before appearing on the site, to ensure compliance with posting guidelines and terms of use. New postings will cost $10, but once approved, will be eligible for reposting at $5.

 

Unsurprisingly, but completely contrary to some of the sensationalistic journalism we?ve seen these past few weeks, the record is clear that use of classifieds is associated with far lower rates of violent crime than print classifieds, let alone rates of violent crime pertaining to American society as a whole.

The relative safety of compared to print classifieds is likely due to some combination of:

• Measures such as blocking, screening, and telephone verification
  
• Community moderation via our flagging system
  
• Electronic trail ensures violent criminals are quickly caught
  
• Personal safety tips prominently posted
  
• Unusually high level of cooperation with law enforcement
  

Community moderation as exemplified by our flagging system is arguably the most successful system ever conceived for eliminating inappropriate activity from a massive internet community. Working in tandem with various other protective technologies, it is an inescapable force to be reckoned with for anyone set on abusing free internet communications across a broad array of posting types.

However, with respect to this new paid category for advertising by legal businesses, we will experiment with some of the methods traditionally employed in paid print classifieds.

We?d like to thank everyone who has provided helpful input over the past few weeks, all of which was closely considered:

• Our users, whose suggestions shape every aspect of
  
• Attorneys General, who provided valuable constructive criticism
  
• Law Enforcement officers nationwide, hugely supportive as always
  
• Legally compliant businesses wishing to advertise their services
  
• EFF and other experts defending free speech and Internet law
  

We are optimistic that the new balance struck today will be an acceptable compromise from the perspective of these constituencies, and for the diverse US communities that value and rely upon .

 

Note: Our announced intention to contribute 100% of net revenues for the ?erotic services? category to charity has been fulfilled, and will continue to be fulfilled, notwithstanding criticism questioning our good faith in this regard. However, in light of today?s changes, and to avoid any future misunderstanding, we are making no representation regarding how revenue from the ?adult services? category will be used.

 

Our commitment to philanthropy remains, and will continue to develop its charitable initiatives.

[VedaSloan 119179]

Sex Professionals of Canada condemns Craigs

• 's decision to ban its

Erotic Services category. By capitulating to the recent bad

publicity, the website is conceding that they played a part in the

murder of our colleague. They did not. The murderer is the one who

is fully responsible for his actions and we hope he is prosecuted to

the full extent of the law. Craigs

• is no more responsible than

they would be had the advertiser been offering a babysitting service

or selling a used car.

 

A better approach for Craigs

• would be to hold its ground and stand

with sex workers and sex worker rights organizations. Instead, Craigs

has chosen to shield itself by limiting our choices. This

only increases our vulnerability.

 

On behalf of Sex Professionals of Canada, (SPOC)

Amy Lebovitch and Valerie Scott

www.spoc.ca

 

 

I also want to add that while this is currently only affecting the US, Craigs has been in discussion with Canadian authorities about doing the same here.

[rick_falcon 911]

But there will still be an 'Adult' section, which to me comes to about the same thing.

The real deterrent to me for CL would be regarding the pictures.

If no nudity is allowed, I doubt that many advertisers would put face shot picture on CL.

Even on CL, half the pictures do not show the face, and the majority of the ones that show face are scam ads.

[Cowboy kenny 50799]

With or without nudity or face shots their would still be stolen pics, just look at how many non nude shots are cataloged on my diary. If the Canadian model follows the american model advertisers would have to pay to place their ads while still conforming to the tamer guidelines.

 

The fact that the advertiser would have to pay will cut down on a good number the stolen pics and bait and switch operators, these guys are cheap SOBs they don't want to pay for anything so they likely won't be paying the new fee for adult advertisers. That means good news for those who do turn to CL for entertainment choices, the likelyhood of being scammed and or conned are less likely as there is more of a liablity associated with the advertiser.

 

Regardless it will be interesting to see how this all turns out.

[JoyfulC 132299]

I don't think they're dropping them -- just changing their approach to carrying them. They're going to hire staff to review and approve ads. This isn't a bad thing for any of us at all. I predict that they'll go this way with all their ads eventually.